Roger Blough for my Birthday

Since it seemed like the Roger Blough had just gotten to Duluth, I didn't think I would see her at the Locks this time.  Imagine my surprise when I looked on AIS and found out that she would be passing through the Soo before the time we wanted to leave.

 So Sunday was my birthday and I was happy to receive this present from the Great Lakes Fleet.  As  I said, it was completely unexpected.  I was even happier that she was passing earlier in the morning that I thought because the light was still pretty good.

 It is always nice when the light is shining almost directly on the subject.

 The only thing that would have been nicer is if the water were calmer but you can't always get everything you want.  Having the Blough was good enough for me.

 At any rate, this post is broken down into four parts.  The first part are the pictures I took from Sherman Park.  I am really glad I disovered that place because it makes for a nice place to take ship pictures.

 Especially when you can get one with a relatively clean background.

 An even cleaner background is better.

 Even better yet is when the background is just trees.  Gives a nice contrast for the ship, I think.

 A shot of her bow.

 An almost straight out shot of her.

 A straight out shot of her bow.

 And just the trees again.

 Sometimes I think that having stuff in the foreground helps in establishing scale.

 A shot of her deckhouse.

 A shot of her pilothouse.

 One more shot of her from Sherman Park.  Then we headed to the Locks.

 For the first part, I headed to the my spot along the fence.  I really like the vantage from here.  For some reason, this shot reminded me of dazzle flage.

 If she were coming into the MacArthur lock, you would really get a sense of scale.

 Slowly she works her way into the Poe Lock.

 She keeps creeping forward....

 ....slowly....

 And finally, she starts to enter the Lock.

I kind of liked this effect.

 She creeps into the Lock.

 A shot of her pilothouse.

 She is almost fully in the Lock.

 Her stack.

 One of her cargo hatches.

 Our next stop was Mission Point again.  I kind of like the shot of the people in front.

 A shot of just her front.  She probably has one of the more distinctive fronts out there.

 As she approached Mission Point, there were a few other people there.  As they waved, she blew us a greeting.  I guess I can pretend it was a birthday greeting as well.  So thanks to the Blough.

 Another shot of her bow.

 A Shot of her pilothouse.

 And her stack.

 One more shot as she leaves Mission Point.

 So we made one more stop at Four Mile Beach.  I really like the pictures from there.  I kind of wish we were a little sooner because I could have gotten more of a head on shot.

 I tried to get the wake of a motor boat in the shot.  I think I needed to get a little lower.

 Another shot of her bow.

One last shot of her before she continues down the St. Mary's River and then Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Gary.